THE PRESIDENT:Thank you very much for that warm
welcome.It's an honor to join you all
today to talk about our environment and about the prospect of dramatic progress
to improve it.

Today, I'm announcing a new
environmental approach that will clean our skies, bring greater health to our
citizens and encourage environmentally responsible development in America and
around the world.

Particularly, it's an honor to
address this topic at NOAA, whose research is providing us with the answers to
critical questions about our environment.And so I want to thank Connie for his hospitality and I want to thank
you for yours, as well.Connie said he
felt kind of like Sasha Cohen -- I thought for a minute he was going to ask me
to talk to his mother on his cell phone.

I also want to tell you one of my
favorite moments was to go down to Crawford and turn on my NOAA radio to get
the weather. I don't know whether my guy is a computer or a person. But the
forecast is always accurate, and I appreciate that.I also want to thank you for your hard work, on behalf of the
American people.

I appreciate my friend, Don Evans's
leadership.I've known him for a long
time.You're working for a good fellow,
if you're working at the Commerce Department, or at NOAA.And I want to thank Spence Abraham and
Christie Todd Whitman for their service to the country, as well.I've assembled a fabulous Cabinet, people
who love their country and work hard.And these are three of some of the finest Cabinet officials I've got.

I want to thank Jim Connaughton, who
is the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality.He's done a fabulous job of putting this
policy together, a policy that I'm about to explain.But before I do, I also want to thank some members of Congress
who have worked with us on this initiative.I want to thank Bob Smith and George Voinovich, two United States
senators, for their leadership in pursuing multi-pollutant legislation; as well
as Congressmen Billy Tauzin and Joe Barton.And I want to thank Senator Chuck Hagel and Larry Craig for their work
on climate issues.These members of
Congress have had an impact on the policies I am just about to announce.

America and the world share this
common goal:we must foster economic
growth in ways that protect our environment.We must encourage growth that will provide a better life for citizens,
while protecting the land, the water, and the air that sustain life.

In pursuit of this goal, my
government has set two priorities:we
must clean our air, and we must address the issue of global climate
change.We must also act in a serious
and responsible way, given the scientific uncertainties.While these uncertainties remain, we can
begin now to address the human factors that contribute to climate change.Wise action now is an insurance policy
against future risks.

I have been working with my Cabinet
to meet these challenges with forward and creative thinking.I said, if need be, let's challenge the
status quo.But let's always remember,
let's do what is in the interest of the American people.

Today, I'm confident that the
environmental path that I announce will benefit the entire world.This new approach is based on this
common-sense idea:that economic growth
is key to environmental progress, because it is growth that provides the
resources for investment in clean technologies.

This new approach will harness the
power of markets, the creativity of entrepreneurs, and draw upon the best
scientific research.And it will make
possible a new partnership with the developing world to meet our common
environmental and economic goals.

We will apply this approach first to
the challenge of cleaning the air that Americans breathe.Today, I call for new Clean Skies
legislation that sets tough new standards to dramatically reduce the three most
significant forms of pollution from power plants, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides and mercury.

We will cut sulfur dioxide emissions
by 73 percent from current levels.We
will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 67 percent.And, for the first time ever, we will cap emissions of mercury,
cutting them by 69 percent.These cuts
will be completed over two measured phases, with one set of emission limits for
2010 and for the other for 2018.

This legislation will constitute the
most significant step America has ever taken -- has ever taken -- to cut power
plant emissions that contribute to urban smog, acid rain and numerous health
problems for our citizens.

Clean Skies legislation will not
only protect our environment, it will prolong the lives of thousands of
Americans with asthma and other respiratory illnesses, as well as with those
with heart disease.And it will reduce
the risk to children exposed to mercury during a mother's pregnancy.

The Clean Skies legislation will
reach our ambitious air quality goals through a market-based cap-and-trade
approach that rewards innovation, reduces cost and guarantees results.Instead of the government telling utilities
where and how to cut pollution, we will tell them when and how much to
cut.We will give them a firm deadline
and let them find the most innovative ways to meet it.

We will do this by requiring each
facility to have a permit for each ton of pollution it emits.By making the permits tradable, this system
makes it financially worthwhile for companies to pollute less, giving them an
incentive to make early and cost effective reductions.

This approach enjoys widespread
support, with both Democrats and Republicans, because we know it works.You see, since 1995 we have used a
cap-and-trade program for sulfur dioxide pollution.It has cut more air pollution, this system has reduced more air
pollution in the last decade than all other programs under the 1990 Clean Air
Act combined.And by even more than the
law required.Compliance has been
virtually 100 percent.It takes only a
handful of employees to administer this program.And no one had to enter a courtroom to make sure the reductions
happened.

Because the system gives businesses
an incentive to create and install innovative technologies, these reductions
have cost about 80 percent less than expected.It helps to keep energy prices affordable for our consumers.And we made this progress during a decade
when our economy, and our demand for energy, was growing.

The Clean Skies legislation I
propose is structured on this approach because it works.It will replace a confusing, ineffective
maze of regulations for power plants that has created an endless cycle of
litigation.Today, hundreds of millions
of dollars are spent on lawyers, rather than on environmental protection.The result is painfully slow, uncertain and
expensive programs on clean air.

Instead, Clean Skies legislation
will put less money into paying lawyers and regulators, and money directly into
programs to reduce pollution, to meet our national goal.This approach, I'm absolutely confident,
will bring better and faster results in cleaning up our air.

Now, global climate change presents
a different set of challenges and requires a different strategy.The science is more complex, the answers are
less certain, and the technology is less developed.So we need a flexible approach that can adjust to new information
and new technology.

I reaffirm America's commitment to
the United Nations Framework Convention and its central goal, to stabilize
atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that will prevent
dangerous human interference with the climate.Our immediate goal is to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions relative
to the size of our economy.

My administration is committed to
cutting our nation's greenhouse gas intensity -- how much we emit per unit of
economic activity -- by 18 percent over the next 10 years.This will set America on a path to slow the
growth of our greenhouse gas emissions and, as science justifies, to stop and
then reverse the growth of emissions.

This is the common sense way to
measure progress.Our nation must have
economic growth -- growth to create opportunity; growth to create a higher
quality of life for our citizens.Growth is also what pays for investments in clean technologies,
increased conservation, and energy efficiency.Meeting our commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas intensity by 18
percent by the year 2012 will prevent over 500 million metric tons of
greenhouse gases from going into the atmosphere over the course of the
decade.And that is the equivalent of
taking 70 million cars off the road.

To achieve this goal, our nation
must move forward on many fronts, looking at every sector of our economy.We will challenge American businesses to
further reduce emissions.Already,
agreements with the semiconductor and aluminum industries and others have
dramatically cut emissions of some of the most potent greenhouse gases.We will build on these successes with new
agreements and greater reductions.

Our government will also move
forward immediately to create world-class standards for measuring and
registering emission reductions.And we
will give transferable credits to companies that can show real emission
reductions.

We will promote renewable energy
production and clean coal technology, as well as nuclear power, which produces
no greenhouse gas emissions.And we
will work to safely improve fuel economy for our cars and our trucks.

Overall, my budget devotes $4.5
billion to addressing climate change -- more than any other nation's commitment
in the entire world.This is an
increase of more than $700 million over last year's budget.Our nation will continue to lead the world
in basic climate and science research to address gaps in our knowledge that are
important to decision makers.

When we make decisions, we want to
make sure we do so on sound science; not what sounds good, but what is
real.And the United States leads the
world in providing that kind of research.We'll devote $588 million towards the research and development of energy
conservation technologies.We must and
we will conserve more in the United States.And we will spend $408 million toward research and development on
renewables, on renewable energy.

This funding includes $150 million
for an initiative that Spence Abraham laid out the other day, $150 million for
the Freedom Car Initiative, which will advance the prospect of breakthrough
zero-emission fuel cell technologies.

My comprehensive energy plan, the
first energy plan that any administration has put out in a long period of time,
provides $4.6 billion over the next five years in clean energy tax incentives
to encourage purchases of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, to promote residential
solar energy, and to reward investments in wind, solar and biomass energy
production.And we will look for ways
to increase the amount of carbon stored by America's farms and forests through
a strong conservation title in the farm bill.I have asked Secretary Veneman to recommend new targeted incentives for
landowners to increase carbon storage.

By doing all these things, by giving
companies incentives to cut emissions, by diversifying our energy supply to
include cleaner fuels, by increasing conservation, by increasing research and
development and tax incentives for energy efficiency and clean technologies,
and by increasing carbon storage, I am absolutely confident that America will
reach the goal that I have set.

If, however, by 2012, our progress
is not sufficient and sound science justifies further action, the United States
will respond with additional measures that may include broad-based market
programs as well as additional incentives and voluntary measures designed to
accelerate technology development and deployment.

Addressing global climate change
will require a sustained effort over many generations.My approach recognizes that economic growth
is the solution, not the problem.Because a nation that grows its economy is a nation that can afford
investments and new technologies.

The approach taken under the Kyoto
protocol would have required the United States to make deep and immediate cuts
in our economy to meet an arbitrary target.It would have cost our economy up to $400 billion and we would have lost
4.9 million jobs.

As President of the United States,
charged with safeguarding the welfare of the American people and American
workers, I will not commit our nation to an unsound international treaty that will
throw millions of our citizens out of work.Yet, we recognize our international responsibilities.So in addition to acting here at home, the
United States will actively help developing nations grow along a more
efficient, more environmentally responsible path.

The hope of growth and opportunity
and prosperity is universal.It's the
dream and right of every society on our globe.The United States wants to foster economic growth in the developing
world, including the world's poorest nations.We want to help them realize their potential, and bring the benefits of
growth to their peoples, including better health, and better schools and a
cleaner environment.

It would be unfair -- indeed,
counterproductive -- to condemn developing nations to slow growth or no growth
by insisting that they take on impractical and unrealistic greenhouse gas
targets.Yet, developing nations such
as China and India already account for a majority of the world's greenhouse gas
emissions, and it would be irresponsible to absolve them from shouldering some
of the shared obligations.

The greenhouse gas intensity
approach I put forward today gives developing countries a yardstick for
progress on climate change that recognizes their right to economic
development.I look forward to
discussing this new approach next week, when I go to China and Japan and South
Korea.The United States will not
interfere with the plans of any nation that chooses to ratify the Kyoto
protocol.But I will intend to work
with nations, especially the poor and developing nations, to show the world
that there is a better approach, that we can build our future prosperity along
a cleaner and better path.

My budget includes over $220 million
for the U.S. Agency for International Development and a global environmental
facility to help developing countries better measure, reduce emissions, and to
help them invest in clean and renewable energy technologies.Many of these technologies, which we take
for granted in our own country, are not being used in the developing
world.We can help ensure that the
benefits of these technologies are more broadly shared.Such efforts have helped bring solar energy
to Bangladesh, hydroelectric energy to the Philippines, geothermal electricity
to Kenya.These projects are bringing
jobs and environmental benefits to these nations, and we will build on these
successes.

The new
budget also provides $40 million under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act to
help countries redirect debt payments towards protecting tropical forests,
forests that store millions of tons of carbon.And I've also ordered the Secretary of State to develop a new initiative
to help developing countries stop illegal logging, a practice that destroys
biodiversity and releases millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere.

And, finally, my government is
following through on our commitment to provide $25 million for climate
observation systems in developing countries that will help scientists
understand the dynamics of climate change.

To clean the air, and to address
climate change, we need to recognize that economic growth and environmental
protection go hand in hand.Affluent
societies are the ones that demand, and can therefore afford, the most environmental
protection.Prosperity is what allows
us to commit more and more resources to environmental protection.And in the coming decades, the world needs
to develop and deploy billions of dollars of technologies that generate energy
in cleaner ways.And we need strong
economic growth to make that possible.

Americans are among the most
creative people in our history.We have
used radio waves to peer into the deepest reaches of space.We cracked life's genetic code.We have made our air and land and water
significantly cleaner, even as we have built the world's strongest economy.

When I see what Americans have done,
I know what we can do.We can tap the
power of economic growth to further protect our environment for generations
that follow.And that's what we're
going to do.